Coastal Bend Day of Giving Taking Donations Today

The Day of Giving is here, and it is your chance to help out many of the local charities that are in dire need of some extra money to make it through the year.

The best part of all is, the money you donate will be matched by the dollar.

A total of 30 different charities are participating in the fourth annual Day of Giving. The organizations help provide basic needs, like food, shelter, medical attention and child care.

"I think it's critically important because many of these organizations are at the end of their budget year, and are probably running out of money," said Karen Selim of the Coastal Bend Community Foundation. "It's a high-need time. A lot of stress in families."

Here is how it works:

You make a donation, online only, at www.coastalbenddayofgiving.org. The donations are a minimum of $10. That money will be matched by local private donors.

You get to choose the charity who gets your money. There is a list of 30 different charities that will benefit from the Day of Giving.

One of those charities is Mission of Mercy. They help provide low-income families with the medical attention they need.

"It's a tremendous influx of money that we so drastically need," said Leo Barrera of Mission of Mercy. "It will go a long way to be able to maintain the medical resources that we need to treat the patients that we serve on a constant basis."

The online donations will be distributed directly to the organizations. The matching donations will be donated at later time.